The present invention relates to interactive computer controlled display systems for controlling operations and particularly to user friendly display interfaces for the control of such operations.
Application programs are used in all aspects of business, industry and personal/home endeavors. There is a large and diverse segment of consumers and workers that must interface with these applications. A vendor of an application program takes into consideration the typical skill level of a group of users for which the application is targeted in order to create the most xe2x80x9ceasy to usexe2x80x9d interface to the application without sacrificing necessary functional features needed by the user to use the application.
Some vendors offer different versions of essentially the same application program, where the versions differ only in the user interface provided with the application program. This allows the vendor to target the same application program to various groups of users having different and varying skill levels. The varying skill levels may include computer skills or job specific skills for which the application was created.
For example, in production operations, including but not limited to the printing trades, the production of parts, tools and dies, integrated circuit manufacturing and processing and chemical industrial production; the operations typically involve repetitive functions performed over relatively long periods of time. Computerization of such operations takes advantage of the strengths of the computer for handling these functions functions effectively. Also, it can reduce the operator skill level required for many of the operations, and increase the productivity of all operators including those still needing high level skills to run and manage the operations.
Nevertheless, computerized production operations require user interfaces that accurately reflect the control requirements and options needed by an operator to run and manage the operations. As such, user interfaces can become more and more complex with hundreds of functional operations for all of the possible operating scenarios the operator may face. Typically, application vendors will design specific purpose software programs with specific display interfaces tailored to the specific production needs and/or the operator skill level. This approach may be viable in xe2x80x9cpurexe2x80x9d production operations where the runs are long term and of the same type of operations with few changes.
However, if every customer of the application vendor has different production control requirements, it may be too expensive and too inefficient for the vendor to provide an user interface tailored to each customer""s specific production needs. Also, many production operations are not pure, i.e. the operations take on characteristics of other production environments.
For example, a xe2x80x9cpurexe2x80x9d commercial print shop operation may print manuals, books or other xe2x80x9cprint for profitxe2x80x9d types of printing. A xe2x80x9cpurexe2x80x9d production print shop may be involved in printing large volumes of statements, invoices, bills, etc. for organizations. A xe2x80x9cpurexe2x80x9d network print environment may involve a multitude of low volume printing operations from individual workers in an office environment.
In specific, there is a need for an user interface for operators who manage print jobs and printers in each of these three different environments. Separate application programs, each with their own user interfaces, have been provided to customers in each of these different print operating environments since each environment theoretically has its own operating requirements. However, in the real world, these environments are not xe2x80x9cpurexe2x80x9d, i.e. any one of these environments can have similarities to another environment. Typically, it is difficult for a software provider to categorize a given customer into some of these pure environments. In addition, some customers may want additional function other than what has been provided for their environment; or, if a customer has users with more novice skill levels, the customer may desire an user interface that limits the things that the users are allowed to do. Thus, providing an application program with just the xe2x80x9crightxe2x80x9d user interface for each and every customer has been a difficult problem for application program vendors to handle.
The present invention offers a solution to the above problems by providing a given application program with multiple selectable user interfaces or, rather, multiple selectable views of a same user interface where each view has a different set of interactive functions of the user interface. Each selectable view may be for a specific operating environment and/or for a specific skill level of a potential user. At the beginning of the application program, the user selects which view of the user interface the user wants. The application with the selected view is presented to the user in a separate window. In another embodiment, when the application is invoked, at least for the first time, separate windows of the application are presented to the user with each window having a different xe2x80x9cdefaultxe2x80x9d view of the user interface. As such, multiple windows or views of the application can be displayed to the user with each window or view representing a different set of interactive functions of the user interface. In addition, the user can readily customize any of the views through the addition of added functions or by deleting default functions. For example, the user can select features from the other nonselected views of the user interface and incorporate them into the selected view. Various embodiments can be used in customizing a given selected interface such as by having a xe2x80x9ccustomizexe2x80x9d option button or by copying, cutting moving, dragging, dropping and/or pasting interactive functions of one view into a different view having a different set of default interactive functions. The user is able to have a customized user interface that accurately reflects the real xe2x80x9cimpurexe2x80x9d operating environment; and the vendor only needs to make and distribute the same application program for each customer.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a data processor controlled display system for the interactive control of production operations comprising means for providing a plurality of selectable sets of basic interactive functions, each set respectively for the control of one of a plurality of types of production operations. Each of these function sets will provide a simple and basic interface which the program designer believes will provide all of the basic functions needed to control its corresponding production operation. Then, there are means for interactively selecting one of said sets of basic functions for the control of one type of production operation. There are further means for providing a plurality of selectable secondary functions such as would be applicable to at least one other type of production operation for supplementing said selected set of basic functions in said production operation control together with means for selecting at least one of said secondary functions. For example, the selected secondary functions may be chosen from another set of basic interactive functions. The selected at least one secondary function is combined with the selected set of basic functions into a customized interactive display interface for the control of said production operation. In addition, in customizing the interface, there are also means for optionally deleting at least one of said basic functions from said selected set of basic functions. It should be noted that all of the functions, whether in a set of basic functions or used as a secondary function, are such that they could still be alternately accessed and interactively used through conventional interfaces not using the customized interfaces of this invention.